Letters address New York budget changes

Diane Wingfield, 4, smiles for the camera during the annual Gift-Giving Party at Nyack Center, Dec. 20, 2012 in Nyack. The after-school program, with most of the children at or below the Federal income guidelines for poverty, is made possible with a $10,000 grant from First Niagara Foundation.(Photo: Tania Savayan/The Journal News)Buy Photo

The state's failure to commit to new funding for high-quality after-school programs is a real loss. Communities across New York need the resources to increase after-school programs that support students' long-term success.

With most resources drained by the Common Core curriculum, we need to be creative about finding alternative ways to help children succeed socially and emotionally. After-school programs give students with disabilities the opportunity to learn how to relate to each other in more appropriate ways. Students who regularly attend these programs have better grades, better peer relations and emotional well-being.

The research is clear — high-quality after-school programs improve student outcomes. The state currently has fewer high-quality programs than are needed, but more than enough capacity to run programs were funds available. It is unfortunate that, despite the governor's significant after-school proposal and increased attention on the issue, the state has missed the opportunity to capitalize on an investment in the future of our children.

Sonia Marshall-Brown

New Rochelle

The writer is executive director and founder of It Takes a Village to Educate a Child Inc. and deputy chair of the Hudson Valley After School Network.

Medical liability change aids lawyers

Buried in the recent New York state budget is a $127 million subsidy for medical liability insurance. Why is this? Our medical liability payouts are the highest in the nation by a truly mind-blowing margin — in 2012, New York accounted for fully 20 percent of all payouts. Per capita, our payouts are more than three times as high as the national average. New York taxpayers must subsidize insurance rates just to keep doctors from leaving the state.

New York has the best doctors in the world and we are willing to pay a bit more to retain them. But this subsidy is not really for the doctors, it is for the trial lawyers — they take advantage of our plaintiff-friendly legal system to file lawsuits in droves, then use the proceeds to pay Albany politicians to block meaningful reforms.

In New York, our standards for expert testimony fall woefully short of most other states and the federal system by requiring only "generally accepted" theories. And "experts" need not even have expertise in the field in which they testify.

Throwing taxpayer money at a broken system is not the solution — we need comprehensive liability reform. We must strengthen our legal standards and impose stricter sanctions for frivolous cases. Doing so will improve access to health care, reduce costs to taxpayers and let our doctors focus on treating patients rather than fighting lawsuits.

Thomas B. Stebbins

Albany

The writer is executive director of Lawsuit Reform Alliance of New York